Dreaming Gods
by Singing Muse
Summary: Bound to eternal slumber by those she protects, the goddess only dares to dream. And he is the only one she could reach for.


She dared to rise only in her dreams. Dared to step upon marble floors through white silk sheets that ghosted over her skin. She dared to do so, for in her dreams her hands were not bound by metal and iron. She was not forced into steel cages by her own subjects. In her dreams she was not a danger to any one for she was just a spirit made up of wishful illusions of a child goddess—condemn by those who stood on the same ground as her.

He knew this but he did not mind.

Beings of same strength yet different power. Children frozen by Time's hand for the purpose of protecting their Rulers—their jewels. She would watch him with her round ice eyes and dared to stand beside him during his prayers. Sometimes she would float about, the child in her bringing out natural curiosity when she became restless and bored.

Sometimes she would speak. Speak to break the thousand years silence between them.

"You are a God, are you not?"

And he would always answer. Always smiling. Pure, innocent. Like an obedient child. Like a servant. "Am I? I suppose my power does have such God-like qualities. I like to view myself more as a priest, however."

"That is because you are bound to this place?" She peered at him with her dead eyes. She cocked her head at him, her inky black locks shifting with the movement. "You are like me. But different."

The boy in white stood, his height matching hers, and eyed her with some sadness. Not pity. Not fear. Just sadness. "Yes. I am bound here by the wishes of my master. To protect my master and his people. To care for the dreams of all. I chose the solitude."

The girl frowned. Her feet walked forward, bare against the tiles, and her black skirts snaked behind her like a shadow. She kept walking, even when the boy did not step to the side, and faded over his body in a mist. He did not flinch. She did not stop.

"You chose to be alone for however long. I did not."

The boy nodded, "I know."

"If I had chosen to live in solitude would I have been allowed a grand garden like you?" She turned back to him. "Would they not have put those metal chains around me and put me into slumber? If I had said 'yes', could I have been like you?"

He swallowed, "No."

"Why?"

"Because they fear you. You are death. You are an ally. Therefore you are this kingdom's worst threat."

The girl gave him a childish pout. She lifted her tiny feet into the air and floated like the unreal being she was. She glided towards him and touched the ground once more, wrapping her cloak around them. "Do you fear me, Helios?"

They were Gods. Gods did not cry. Yet children did and they were that too. He remembered that when he saw her black eyes soften and tears wet the corners of her eyes.

"I, perhaps, fear your power." He smiled at her then, shrugging his shoulders, "But I can not fear you. You are as gentle as a dream."

Her face, pale and white much like the moon above, lit up with his words. Of course, it made him happy to see her face, usually stuck in a frown like stone statue, now bright with a smile. It also, however, made him sad for he knew he would be the only one to bestow such words unto her. Only one, that is, except perhaps the White Princess.

As if she had read his mind—which could have been very likely considering—she sprung away from him with a deep scowl, her cloak like crow's wings on her back. "I hate her." Her voice came out younger. Wet. Like a little girl. "She's the reason I am like this. She is the reason why I can only dream. _I hate her so."_

They both knew it was a lie. She could not hate Serenity, even if she dared to try. She was bound to her more than anyone else. But he chose to allow her to believe that lie because, otherwise, it would only deepen her sorrow.

Another time, Helios chose to leave the temple and the girl followed after him, moving through walls like a ghost to keep up. Through the garden they went, the sun high and breeze warm, though she would never know it.

"If I were real, would you invite me back?" She asked her arms behind her as she drifted along. He looked up and nodded, "Of course. Illusion of self or reality, you are good company."

"Even if I were, to say, human?"

He stopped and stared, perplexed. Odd, she would ask. Gods were usually content to be as they are, only masking themselves when they wished to play with those that walked the Earth. Yet, how she worded it, one could believe she meant to be actually human, with all the flaws and sicknesses involved.

Then again, perhaps, to her, human was better than ever being a God.

"Yes, I suppose I would, Lady Saturn…"

Silent then, she crawled herself into a ball and hovered down to his height, stopping to rest her head (or to try to anyway) on his shoulder. The boy did not mind. He smiled, his thumbs twirling together as he hummed a little tune to comfort her. They stayed like, two godly children, until the night came and the black star stood over head, taking the girl away until the morning when her star disappeared into the sky.

Saturn came and went with each passing day, her dreaming spirit always willing to take her where he was for friendly interaction. And Helios always welcomed her sight during his prayers, standing to attention when she appeared to him.

Sometimes they were silent. Sometimes they would talk. Sometimes he would tell her of his frustrations; of how he was so old he no longer knew his age or the face of the first King he served. He would tell her how wished to meet his prince whom he protected without a question or a doubt. He would share his wishes to be a normal boy, one that would grow old and die the same as everyone else.

Sometimes they would tell of the same dream, where a pink haired girl would float in and out, laughing sweetly like an angel.

They did this until one night when the sky turned red with blood and the moon went dark. That was the night Helios could do nothing as the Golden Kingdom and the Silver Millennium crumbled before him in tragedy.

That was the night he saw a Goddess give into her curse and die like those who had damned her, her chains breaking off and giving her freedom.

And, when silence fell upon him, he swore he heard a soft, maybe happy, whisper.

"_Thank you, my friend."_

He did not see her again for a millennium. After the bloodshed and war had passed, after his prince and princess had finally reunited, and after he had met the pink haired girl that smiled at him with wine red eyes.

She came to him—still young and still wise—her smile wide and her arms open. She stood before him as a human, free and happy.

He smiled back, "Welcome back, Saturn."

"Call me Hotaru. Saturn is the name of a sleeping goddess who only dared to dream."


End file.
